A RARE PAINTED ENAMEL BLACK-GROUND TRIPOD CENSER

PROPERTY FROM AN AMERICAN PRIVATE COLLECTION

Details

A RARE PAINTED ENAMEL BLACK-GROUND TRIPOD CENSER
QIANLONG FOUR-CHARACTER MARK IN BLUE ENAMEL WITHIN A DOUBLE SQUARE AND OF THE PERIOD

The compressed body raised on three truncated, conical supports, the sides delicately painted in subtle tones with three shaped cartouches containing realistic flowering plants sprouting from blue rocks, separated by three large exotic blooms borne on the surrounding leafy, scrolling tendrils which bear further small blossoms and buds, all reserved on a black ground continuing under the base to surround the seal mark and ending below three narrow decorative bands on the neck, with a pair of triangular handles rising from the rim, the interior enameled in turquoise
4 7/8in. (12.4cm.) across

Provenance

Stephen Junkunc III

Lot Essay

Although one finds cloisonné enamel tripod censers during the Qianlong period, it is quite unusual to find one in painted enamel. For a censer of this shape, also painted in enamels, but with a landscape scene on a yellow ground, see Zhongguo meishu quanji; gongyi meishu (A Complete Collection of Chinese Art; Arts and Crafts), vol. 10, 'Gold, Silver, Glass and Enamelware', Beijing, 1987, p. 174, pl. 317 and 318

It is also rare to find Qianlong period painted enamel wares with a black ground, although it can be seen on a small cup and saucer included in the exhibition, Chinese Painted Enamels, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, June-July, 1978, Catalogue, p. 55, no. 61, where the author, Michael Gillingham, mentions that 'the black ground is occasionally found in enamels, usually on small objects such as cups, saucers, snuff-bottles and snuff-boxes'